1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a system for effecting a telephone call between telephonic devices. The present invention also relates to novel uses of a web browser and Internet capable software.
2. Description of the Related Art
Voice-over Internet Protocol (VoIP) is a category of hardware and software that enables the user to use a computer network such as the Internet as the transmission medium for telephone calls by sending voice data in packets using Internet Protocol (IP) rather than by traditional circuit transmissions of the Public Switch Telephone Network (PSTN). This eliminates circuit switching and the associated waste of bandwidth. Instead, packet switching is used, wherein IP packets with voice data are sent over the network only when data needs to be sent, i.e. when a party to the call is speaking.
The advantages of VoIP over traditional telephony include, by way example, lower costs per call, especially for long-distance calls, and lower infrastructure costs. That is, once the IF infrastructure is installed, no or little additional telephony infrastructure is required.
However, despite the technological flexibility of a VoIP system, callers are still limited to initiating calls manually, that is by using the keypad on a telephone.
There is an art desired need to greatly reduce or eliminate the user's manual activities in initiating a telephone call, including the telephone keypad operation.